WILLMAR - A jury has convicted a Willmar man of three felony counts of criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly sexually abusing a child for more than five years.
Court documents show Gilberto Guzman Diaz, 38, was found guilty Thursday, following a two-day trial, on each of the three counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
Sentencing is set for May 8.
Guzman Diaz was initially charged Oct. 28 in Kandiyohi County District Court.
The charges came days after a 14-year-old girl in the Rice Memorial Hospital Emergency Room reported being sexually assaulted.
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Through an interpreter, she told police that the assailant was someone she knew.
According to the criminal complaint on the charges, the girl was visibly upset and frightened when she made the report.
She described being awakened the night of Oct. 21 to Guzman Diaz touching her and eventually assaulting her. After the assault, she said Guzman Diaz told her to go to the bathroom, where she took a shower.
Police observed that the girl's eyes filled with tears when answering questions about the assault, according to the criminal complaint.
Eventually, the girl admitted the assaults had been happening since she was 9 years old. She told police that Guzman Diaz had threatened to kill members of her family if she told anyone about the sexual assaults.
The day after the most recent assault, a relative saw the girl was crying. Eventually, the girl confided in her relative, and the relative brought her to the emergency room.
Guzman Diaz remains in custody at the Kandiyohi County Jail until the sentencing hearing.
